Author of Circumference of Darkness (entitled Maximum Impact in the UK)

While we’re watching us, who’s watching them?

The quotation “the price of liberty is eternal vigilance“ has been attributed to a number of likely figures, including Jefferson, Lincoln, and Paine. (For you sticklers, there’s more on the probable original source here.) While I’m sure this thought occurred to each of them independently in their time, the sentiment is so enduring that it probably predates them all.

No doubt the people behind the LAPD’s iWatch program didn’t intend for their promo video to come off as Orwellian as it did to me, and I’m also sure the road they’re going down here is paved with good intentions. Still, I don’t think this is the brand of vigilance being invoked in the quote above.